RADish
by Orpah
Summary: When Hong moves into Arthur's family, his strange behavior leads to a rare diagnosis: Reactive Attachment Disorder. But is it true? And if it is not, can Arthur protect Hong before it is too late?
1. Chapter 1

And... and... I know I have no excuse to start another story, when I have two going already that aren't updated frequently enough... But I just had this great idea and I really, really want to do it. So, yeah, brief explanation:

This story is a complete AU. No history involved, nada, zip, zilch, none. But I hope you will enjoy it anyway! You'll still learn something about the world we live in, I promise!

Oh, and Hong is about eight, and Arthur's about twelve.

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

Hong had pretty eyes, Arthur had decided. Very different from his own large, green ones, but still, a beautiful brown and an artistic shape. The Asian boy was standing rather complacently in the doorway of Arthur's house, right next to Arthur's mother, who was carrying Hong's bag.

"Now come on, go in. I promise it will be nice," Arthur's mom promised, trying to usher Hong in with her other hand. Hong walked slowly in, looking around at the house, but not at the people he would be staying with. It made Arthur a little curious. Didn't he care about the people who would be his housemates? The boy before him, Alfred, had been eager to know Arthur, adoring his every quirk. Granted, the boy had been five, which was a huge difference from eight, but Arthur would have expected at least momentary eye contact.

His mother bustled up the stairs, after shutting the front door. "I'll put your things away; Arthur, will you please show Hong around?" A request which was really a command, Arthur knew. He smiled at the newcomer, trying to get his attention. "Hello, I'm Arthur. You're Hong, right?"

There was a brief nod, and even the slightest bit of eye contact, before Hong walked over towards the glass cabinet and began staring at the heirlooms inside like he was at a zoo, beholding exotic animals. Arthur felt a little irritated at being brushed off, but he pushed on, coming up next to Hong and looking at the heirlooms too. "That's the violin my great-grandpa played. He died of influenza a long time ago though, so my grandpa sometimes has a hard time remembering what he was like."

Hong didn't give any acknowledgement, but his sharp little eyes did take in the violin, as though he were memorizing every angle and shape within it. Arthur smiled faintly, and gestured to a vase. "That's from Japan. My grandmum went there, and she gave it to us. See, it has some geishas on it; those were girls who would sing and dance to entertain people."

Again, no sign that Hong had heard him other than that he was now examining the vase with his eyes. Arthur wondered if Hong acted this way towards everyone, never answering or really engaging at all with the person. It like he was an animal used to people, but not tamed. "My grandmum says Japan's really interesting. Are you from there?"

"No." Ah ha! So he could speak! Arthur had known it all along. Of course, the answer was pretty terse, so he tried to draw out some more words. "Oh. Well, where are you from?"

"Smithtown." That wasn't far from here. Though it hadn't been quite what Arthur had been asking, he decided to let it go. What else could he ask the mysterious Hong? The younger boy's gaze was currently latched onto a pair of red glass goblets, sitting on a red glass plate. That had been from his great aunt Henrietta, to his parents on their wedding day. "Have you been in a lot of foster homes?"

Silence. Hong began to pick at the lock on the door of the cabinet, as though he hadn't even heard Arthur. That made Arthur frown a little. Hong couldn't have possibly not heard him, right? He'd heard him before, every time, and it wasn't as though Arthur had started speaking more quietly all of a sudden. He tried again. "Hey, Hong? Is this one of your first foster homes?"

Maybe he was scared, Arthur had reasoned. However, since that Hong hadn't replied again, he began to think he was just plain rude. He jabbed him in the shoulder, making the younger boy jump. "Hong. Are you listening?"

Those brown eyes turned on him, as though taking him in for the first time. "No." The eyes continued to examine him, while Arthur let his mouth gape open a little bit. Hong was not only ignoring him, but he was blatantly admitting to it? What exactly was going on with this kid? With Alfred, there had been no escape from attention; clearly these two did not come from even a remotely similar place.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" But Hong had turned his back on Arthur and now started investigating the television, in all its square and boxy glory. Arthur's teeth clenched together, and he had to count to keep from getting too angry. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10... He let out a deep breath, and then walked over to Hong. "Hong, why aren't you listening to me?"

"Don't care." It was a distracted murmur, but Arthur heard it, and got the feeling he was going to need to do a lot of counting and deep breathing if he was going to get along with Hong. Resisting the urge to hit something (or a specific someone), he said, "Well, I'm supposed to show you the house. So come with me."

When he was presented with absolutely no answer, Arthur was not surprised. He was, however, getting sick of it fast. He seized Hong's arm, and pulled him towards the kitchen. Hong shrieked, loud and piercing, immediately trying to pull free of Arthur's grip. The noise was like a prick in the ear, but Arthur soldiered on, dragging Hong along in a rather annoyed fashion. "I'm showing you the house, so quit screaming like I'm murdering you!"

"Arthur, what in heaven's name is going on down there?" Arthur's mom was coming down the stairs already not even waiting for a response. Arthur scrambled to find one that wouldn't get him in trouble, releasing Hong. "I was just trying to show him the house! He won't listen to me or anything!"

His mother was giving him a look as her feet hit the landing, and Arthur quickly released Hong. It simply wasn't worth trying to drag him around now, with the way his mother was probably going to react. "Arthur! I can't believe you'd just _grab_ someone like that! You know when we touch someone, it should always be in a loving way!"

"But Mom, he was being a brat! He wouldn't _listen_!" Arthur tried to get her to see his side of things, but it was no use. She just went to hug Hong, who had completely calmed down. When she got her arms around him, however, he just grunted and wriggled away from her. She seemed to take this in stride, turning on Arthur and taking it out on him. "Do not argue about this with me! You _know_ the rules!"

She turned to gesture towards Hong, who was watching them disinterestedly. "Now say you're sorry."

He didn't want to. Hong didn't deserve it, he was the one who _caused_ the problem. But the habit that had been pounded into him since he was little took control, and he found the words spilling out of his mouth involuntarily. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have grabbed you. Will you forgive me?"

Hong cocked his head to the side, staring blankly at Arthur. There was an awkward silence before he finally muttered, "I suppose so." It was as though the concept were foreign to him, which was a strange thought to Arthur. Alfred had caught on very quickly, and of course Arthur knew it implicitly by now. When you did something wrong to someone, you said you were sorry and asked forgiveness (except at school. He would never do the last part at school.), and then usually there was a hug and you made up.

"There now. Both of you boys head into the dining room and I'll get some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ready for lunch." Of _course_, Hong listened now and headed into the dining room with a rather stoic expression on his face. Arthur followed, still feeling frustration over the incident but his hunger (which he hadn't noticed before) directing him to let it go and enjoy his mother's 'cooking.'

Hong proceeded to show himself to be strange at lunch, licking out the inside of the sandwich and leaving the bread. No matter how much Arthur's mother tried to cajole him into eating it, the bread remained untouched. It was then that Arthur knew this kid was truly strange.

* * *

><p>If Hong had a hobby, it was staring at things. Never people, just things. Sometimes he'd fiddle with them, maybe trying to figure out how they worked, but every time Arthur looked at him, he was staring at something else. Maybe it was too quick to make a judgement, it only being the first day, but Arthur was pretty sure there would be no change of character as Hong warmed up to them.<p>

Right now, as they got ready for bed, Hong was staring at the tag on his pajama top, as though he'd never seem a garment made out of man-made fibers before. Arthur didn't want to bother him, but he was tired, and he wanted to go to bed on time.

"It's just a pj top, Hong. Go to bed." And those eyes didn't even shift to him once, as he continued staring at the tag, now turning the top so he could read it upside down. Arthur groaned, sprawled on his bed and wishing the light was off. "You don't have to wear a top to bed if you don't want to. So, just... just get in bed, okay?"

Hong seemed to hear him, setting aside the top and climbing into the bed opposite Arthur's. "G'night," came the mumble, and Arthur was almost surprised to hear it, wondering for a moment if he imagined it. He returned the sentiment much more clearly.

Lying back on his pillow, Arthur could only hope that tomorrow, he would not be too bothered by Hong. The child was strange, but maybe he was redeemable, or at least avoidable. Or better yet, he would get to go back to his family, the status of which Arthur was unaware. Alfred had to go back to his family in the end, because his parents had both attended anger management classes and were getting better. Hopefuly, it would be the same with Hong.

/AN/ Boring, interesting? Let me know! I promise the story with get more interesting as time goes on, and other characters should show up, such as Francis. And maybe even Alfred, I dunno, at this point the plot is kinda fluid.


	2. Chapter 2

I hope I can interest you guys with this next chapter. And guess what? There's an official Macau profile now! Though, he's tall and wears glasses and has a rather businesslike demeanor. Which is not at all how I envisioned him. But hey, you can't have everything the way you want!

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

Hong didn't do things when he was supposed to. He tended to follow his own pace, lollygagging around and sometimes even doing something that was the complete opposite of what he was supposed to do, like going back to bed when he was supposed to be getting ready for school. Such as right now.

"Hong! Why aren't you dressed? I told you to get up fifteen minutes ago!" Arthur's mom had come into the room to find the devious deed Hong had committed, fortunately _after_ Arthur had finished dressing. He wouldn't call himself insecure, but there was just something about his mom seeing him undressed or only partly dressed that was embarassing, since he was so old.

Hong turned over in bed, so he wasn't facing Arthur's mom. She didn't seem stunned by the behavior; it was not exactly new. Alfred had been a nice kid, but he wasn't always well-behaved. "_Hong_. Get out of this bed now, or I will lift you out and dress you myself."

This seemed to get a worse reaction out of Hong, as he promptly burrowed under the Buzz Lightyear blanket. Arthur decided it was time to get out of there, and get his breakfast before his bus came. As he left, he could hear his mom trying to convince Hong to come out of his own free will, and it made him shake his head. She talked big, but generally she gave lighter retribution than she threatened to.

His mom had already scrambled some eggs and made toast, apparently so that Hong's first day of school would begin well. Arthur grabbed a plate and put some of the eggs between two pieces of toast to eat. Would Hong even be able to catch the bus at this point, he wondered? It was almost time to head to the corner of the street and wait to be picked up.

Then, he heard his mother coming down the stairs, and he was sure she would not have come down without success in her endeavor. And indeed, as he looked over, he saw her lugging Hong with her, the little boy pushing away from her as though she had deadly germs. He was dressed in a Superman t-shirt and jeans with big pockets, Arthur noted.

As soon as Arthur's mother put Hong down, he stopped pushing away from her and snatched up some toast, beginning to lick off the jam Arthur's mom had so lovingly put on it. Arthur's mom seemed to get a slightly exasperated look on her face. "Hong, honey, we eat all the food put before us. Not just the jam, alright?"

"Bye Mom!" Arthur couldn't stick around to see Hong's quirks further revealing themselves. As he bounded down the steps, he thought he heard his mom calling after him, but he pretended he didn't and continued on anyway. It was a very short way down to the end of the street, where several other children were waiting.

"Arthur! You're late!" accused Michelle, a strangely no-nonsense girl who Arthur sometimes didn't like to admit was his friend. He just scowled at her. "You know my mom. She always finds some way to slow things down."

He didn't always place the blame on his mother. In fact, he _only_ did it when she wasn't there to defend herself. That way she didn't know and thus wasn't hurt by it, so it was okay. Or so Arthur's logic went. As Michelle raised an eyebrow, Arthur felt an arm wrap around his shoulders. "Strange how your mother seems to be to blame for everything. Is it also her fault you have eyebrows like caterpillars?"

"Francis!" Arthur just barely fought off the squeak in his voice as he threw off the older boy's arm. He turned the most sullen glare he was capable of on Francis. "You're such a creep! Stay away!"

However, the teen only laughed, in that annoying, nasally tone of his. "I cannot help it. You are just so funny when you turn red like that."

"I am not!" Arthur snapped back, unfortunately turning a deeper shade of red. Michelle groaned, getting in between the two. "Francis, quit antagonising Arthur. The bus's almost here, and I don't want you two fighting and missing it. Again."

A giggle came from the fourth party present, a girl who went by the name of Belle. She tended to claim she was a princess, just like Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and Francis had always supported her in that idea. She _was_ his cousin, after all. "You guys are so hilarious..."

The bus pulled up, and Francis, of course, made sure he could get past Arthur first by pushing on his forehead and sending him backwards. "See you later! Au revoir!"

Stupid Francis and his French classes. It was like the kid thought he was a French citizen just because he could introduce himself and ask where the bathroom was. Arthur grumbled to himself as he scurried on after Michelle and Belle. Francis was sitting with Antonio and Gilbert by the time he got on, so that was a relief. That was all the way in the back, and Arthur didn't want to sit anywhere near there.

He ended up sitting next to Kiku, one of his buddies, right in front of Michelle and Belle. "Hey Kiku," he said, ignoring his girl friends (definitely a space there. Definitely!) in favor of one of his boy friends, "Did you like the English homework last night? I though it was a cool topic for a long answer."

It was. It was about what they thought America would be a like if they had lost the Revolutionary War. Arthur had always wondered about that himself, and how upset it must have made the British to lose their colony. He could sympathise with the king, who probably had wanted to keep them pretty badly if he'd sent so many soldiers over to keep it. His mom had always told him that King George III had it pretty rough with his siblings and children, so he probably felt horrible when he'd failed at something once again.

Kiku gave him a shrug, replying, "I suppose, though I thought it could have been more interesting." That was Kiku-speak for 'no, I actually didn't like it very much at all.'

"Oh. Alright." Arthur disengaged from the conversation, not at all interested in it if Kiku didn't want to talk about what he wanted to talk about. As he looked out the window, he saw several cars passing by: a red SUV with a soccer mom in it, a battered little white-ish car with a bunch of teens in it, a maroon minivan, just like the one his family had-

It _was_ his mom. And Hong, Arthur was rather startled to realise, as the eight-year-old leaned rather dangerously out the window to stare at the kids in the school bus. "Hong!"

Arthur's yelp made Kiku jump, and notice the kid hanging out of the car beside them. It was as though Arthur's mom had also heard him, for her head briefly turned back towards Hong- and then snapped back violently. She was screaming at him, Arthur could tell, and the minivan swerved dangerously.

It was all rather surreal to Arthur. Was Hong even wearing a seat belt? It certainly didn't look like it. The whole bus was now focused on his new foster brother's peril, though the child himself looked as nonplussed as ever. Now Arthur's mom was starting to slow down, pulling off to the side of the road.

They were behind him now, and disappeared as the bus rounded a corner, before Arthur could even see if things turned out alright or not.

To say he was stunned was to say the ocean was big. It was an understatement.

Arthur could barely figure out what to think. What the heck was wrong with Hong? Was his mother crazy for fostering? What would the kids at school think? Was Hong even alive? Had his mother crashed in her panic? He was sure he had _never_ seen her look like that before, not even when Alfred ate a mushroom from the yard and had to go get his stomach pumped.

"Arthur, who was that in your mom's minivan? Another foster kid?" It was Belle, leaning up against the seat to try and catch his attention. Arthur nodded numbly, still trying to process everything.

"Well, what's his name?" Belle inquired further, and Michelle was leaning forward as well, intent on hearing about this strange child. Arthur gave a sigh, as the bus was pulling up in front of the school. "His name's Hong. And, and, he's not like that normally."

What a lie. But Arthur did not want to make a sideshow out of Hong, because that would make him part of the circus as well. Belle giggled a little, asking, "What's he normally like? Only slightly crazy?"

Arthur could feel himself bristling a little, but the bus had stopped, and children were starting to pour out like pancake batter out of his mother's mixing bowl. "He's perfectly normal. In fact, he's really cool normally. Exactly the kind of little brother anyone would want."

They'd never know the difference, Arthur reasoned as he stepped off the bus. It was not as though Hong would go to the middle school or anything.

Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he saw a maroon minivan passing by towards the elementary school, but he decided to ignore it. He didn't want to think about Hong right now...

* * *

><p>"Hong was very polite today, weren't you, Hong?" Arthur sawed at the pork roast on his plate, not really caring about how Hong did at school today, but knowing he was obliged to listen. His mother continued on, even though Hong didn't respond at all.<p>

"He came up to Mrs. Ingram, introduced himself without me even telling him to, and then took his seat when she asked him to. Isn't that wonderful?" Why was his mom so insistent on reporting the details of the day to him? She hadn't even bothered to talk about his questions involving Hong and his leaning out of the van that morning, saying it was only a 'snafu.'

"Yeah mom, that's great." Arthur stuck a piece of the pork roast into his mouth, finding it rather chewy, though not quite like eating leather. _He_ would never say his mom's cooking was bad, but Alfred and every one of Arthur's friends not polite enough to keep it to themselves had said such, so he figured his mother must have already killed his tastebuds.

Hong was shovelling the mashed potatoes into his mouth almost faster than a normal person would be able to swallow, though Arthur had the suspicion that had little to do with why he wasn't talking. Arthur's mom stroked Hong's head as she talked, not even seeming to notice the way he tried to lean out of her touch.

"We may have gotten off to a rocky start, but I think Hong's going to do just fine here!" Arthur's mom had _that_ smile on her face, the one that was just a little too happy to be good news. She tended to use it when the situation truly didn't call for a smile, or when she wanted things to go well.

Arthur wanted to remind her that the child she was talking about was starting to lick the salad dressing off of his salad, and therefore he was _not_ doing just fine, but he shut his mouth and kept it to himself. He knew it only make his mother unhappy, and an unhappy mom is an unhappy family.

"So, Arthur, how was school today?" Arthur's mom was looking over at him now, slight, sincere smile on her face. Arthur, however, didn't want to think about how school went. After the spectacle Hong had made of himself that morning, Belle and Michelle had pretty much spread the whole story about how he was Arthur's crazy foster brother, and people hadn't stopped asking him about it. Hong had only been with him since yesterday, so he'd mostly stuck with a rather taciturn approach to their inquiries, and interest had tapered off by the time he went home, but still... It was very aggravating.

"It went _fine_." If she wasn't going to explain things to him, he wasn't going to explain things to her. See how _she_ liked it. However, all she did was correct him. "Arthur Kirkland, you do not speak to me that way. Tell me how things went."

Arthur didn't want to be punished, so he rather unwillingly said, "Yes mom. I had a good time talking with Kiku over lunch. He wants to come over sometime to do homework together. I also got my grade for my science project back. It was a B+."

Despite the rather stilted tone of his utterings, Arthur's mom seemed pleased. "You tell Kiku he can come over any time he likes. I'm glad you're such good friends; he's a good influence on you."

Arthur felt a little annoyed, needless to say, at his mother's praise of his good friend, but knew better than to complain. At least if his mom liked his friends, he would get to see them more often. He _never_ saw Feliks anymore, for example, even though they had known each other a little while back. Not ever since Feliks showed up wearing bedazzled pants and a pink t-shirt.

"Hopefully Hong will make some good friends soon too, right honey?" Arthur's mom's words were a wish that would never come true, Arthur knew that much. He wouldn't hold his breath for the little misanthrope to make friends. With the attitude he had, there was no way anyone could come to like him.

Hong apparently decided he was done with dinner now, and got up to go, leaving a bowl of naked greens and an untouched piece of pork roast on his plate. As his mother tried to convince the socially-challenged boy to return to his seat and eat his dinner, Arthur knew there was no way Hong would ever be normal.

/AN/ I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And, as for future characters, China and Macau should show up as well. Just as a note, Francis is like 14, Michelle and Belle are 12 and 13, and Kiku is 12. I plan on updating soon!


	3. Chapter 3

Just to clarify, Michelle is Seychelles, and Belle is Belgium. They are cousins, along with Francis. Sorry about the confusion... And one more thing, this is set more around the nineties/early 2000's. So yeah, that's what's with the lack of technology and the kids in the neighborhood actually knowing each other...

Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

Arthur was surprised, when he woke up, to discover that Hong was already up. Or he was out of bed, in any case, which did not necessarily constitute being 'up'. He slipped off his own covers, sliding off the bed and onto his feet. He had better find Hong and make sure he didn't get into anything.

As he headed down the stairs, he swore he could hear an unidentifiable sound. It was wet, and stopped and started several times, but it was nothing like dripping water or somebody peeing... which was definitely good. He wouldn't put peeing on something past Hong. Entering the living room, he could see a pair of feet just in view of the doorway to the kitchen.

He moved on to discover they belonged to Hong, but that was not what left him speechless. The eight-year-old appeared to be nursing a bottle of ranch, and there was an empty jelly jar sitting next to him. Arthur was astonished. Then he was angry. "Hong! You can't just eat that right out of the bottle! That's disgusting!"

Hong narrowed his eyes at him, taking another gulp from the bottle. That incensed Arthur further, making him step forward and snatch the plastic bottle away, barely refraining from hitting Hong as well. "You brat! My mom didn't buy this food so you could gorge on it like this!"

Whining, Hong kicked the jelly jar to the side, seeming to ignore Arthur in favor of his displeasure at having his early morning snack taken away. Arthur felt his anger build up to his eyeballs, and he threw the bottle of ranch onto the counter. "Listen to me, darnit! You're not supposed to do this! This is _bad_! "

But Hong was up and taking the ranch bottle off of the counter, and Arthur's anger boiled over. "You stupid idiot!" When his open hand hit Hong's cheek, a rather startled, wide-eyed look took over Hong's face, and he stared incredulously for a moment. Then, however, he began to scream, falling back and away from Arthur against the cabinets.

Arthur was reminded, not only of how hitting was a major no-no, but how his mom was sleeping, and would probably be rather unpleasantly surprised to be woken up by screaming. He immediately tried to hush Hong, insistently shushing and saying, "Stop it, I didn't hit you that hard!"

However, soon there was the telltale creak over head, and Arthur's heart dropped. His mom was up, and undoubtedly not pleased. "Hong, come on, stop it, I'll give you candy, just stop screaming!"

Bribery did nothing, it seemed, as Hong's back pressed against the cabinets and his hands pressed against the spot Arthur had struck. The stairs creaked as Arthur's mom came down them, calling out, "What's going on? Is someone hurt?"

Arthur had to make a decision. Was he going to lie, and try and cover up what he'd done, or was he going to tell the truth, and minimise his actions? As his mom entered, he made that decision. "Mom, you see, Hong was eating right out of the ranch bottle, and I took it away, and kind of tapped him on the cheek... not very hard! It didn't really hurt him!"

His mom, however, was immediately next to Hong, gently pulling his hands away from his, which revealed a red handprint. Arthur gulped as his mom looked at him with a you're-in-so-much-trouble kind of look. "Then why did it leave a mark, Arthur? Honey," she sighed, picking up Hong despite his squirming and setting him on the counter, "we've talked about your temper. If you don't get it under control, we're going to have to see someone, or get you in a program."

"I have been good with my temper!" Arthur protested, feeling a flare of panic. He did not want to be in a program or see a counselor! That was for kids with problems, like Alfred! He wasn't like Alfred, who had woken up crying on some occasions, despite being five years old. If anyone here needed couselling or anything of that sort, it was Hong!

Arthur's mom tsked at him, putting an ice pack on Hong's cheek. "Arthur, don't give me that bullcrap. You go and stand with your nose in the corner _now_. And don't you ever go even thinking about hurting the people around you again!"

Rather reluctantly, Arthur shuffled over to a corner in the dining room, and pressed his face as far as it could go into it. He felt, immediately, a wave of remorse for hitting Hong. Why didn't he just drag him up to his mom's room or something? That would have been handling the situation much better.

Not that he really had a temper problem. Everyone got angry sometimes, and so did he. It was normal, perfectly fine. And hey, it wasn't as though he had killed anybody, or maimed them for life. His mom was totally overreacting about his temper, as she tended to do. He loved her, it was true, but sometimes she magnified things he did.

Arthur heard a grunt from the next room, followed by the sound of someone's feet hitting the floor hard. His mom was trying to convince Hong to stay and leave the ice pack on, but apparently it was doing no good, because off Hong went to do whatever he wanted.

Hong was the one with the problem, not Arthur.

* * *

><p>"So, like, he's just hiding up in his room right now?" It was Belle who asked the question, hair fanned out on the grass. She, and Francis and Michelle, had all come over to Arthur's house to hang out, as they frequently did after school. Homework could wait til the evening, after all. Except for Francis, of course, who was hunched over a book about World History. He <em>was<em> a high school student, so he needed all the time he could get for homework.

"Yeah. He wouldn't come outside, even though my mom said he could come out while you guys were here," Arthur replied, tearing up grass absently. In the safety of his yard, he felt better talking about Hong, just so long as he didn't tell them _all_ about the strange habits and tendencies of his foster brother.

"Maybe he used to live in the city, and he's not used to having a yard," Michelle suggested, brown body perched on the stump that used to be an apple tree. They used to get such a thrill climbing it when they were little, because it was a fairly tall stump, with a long branch sticking out the side. Arthur considered what she said, throwing away a shredded pile of grass.

"I guess so. Where ever he comes from, I hope he goes back soon. He keeps getting me in trouble." It was said without much conviction, partly due to the finally warm weather. It would be none too long before school was let out, only about a month more or so.

"I thought you said he was 'really cool'," Francis said, smirking as he looked up from his book. Arthur felt an embarassed flush on his face, saying quickly, "Well, he was cool at first, but now he's just kind of annoying!"

"You are totally lying," Belle tittered, sitting up to grin at him. Arthur looked away, scowling and trying to ignore them, even as the blonde cousins were laughing at him. Michelle, however, was completely serious, saying, "You know, we're not going to laugh at you just because you have a weird family."

"Well, you're laughing at me _now_," Arthur grumbled, viciously tearing up another handful of grass. Belle and Francis continued to giggle and chuckle, respectively, but Michelle gave him a disappointed look, pointing out, "_I'm_ not laughing."

And then Arthur felt weird, a chilly flash going through him before turning back to normal, and he spat out, "Well, shut up Francis! Don't laugh at me!"

"I can't help it when you're such a bad liar..." Francis grinned, scribbling some notes on an open notebook. Belle giggled a little more, then suddenly gasped, "Oh, is that him again, staring at us through the window?"

And Arthur looked up, and it was indeed Hong, just standing there at his bedroom window and staring like a statue. Arthur groaned, suddenly feeling a rise of annoyance in his chest. Why did he always just stare, like a soulless animal? It frustrated Arthur to no end.

"Yeah, that's him." All three of his friends were staring back at Hong, though their stares weren't nearly so intense. After a few moments, Belle got up and advanced towards the house. She looked back at them, saying, "I'm going to go ask him if he wants to come outside, okay?"

"Good luck with that, Belle." Arthur just shook his head. There was no way that antisocial little creep would come out, no matter who asked him. But of course, it could be expected from Belle, the resident humanitarian. She seemed to like the little kids in the neighborhood, allowing them to stay around where the rest of them would drive them off.

The screen door slammed, and it was just the three of them. Francis broke the silence first, though his eyes were studiously glued to his textbook. "Do you guys want to bike around the neighborhood when I'm done with this chapter? That is, if Belle-Belle doesn't get her way with her little charity case."

"She won't, so sure." Arthur could agree with Francis on occasion, so long as it was nothing serious. And a good bike ride sounded nice right now. They could head down to the park and dominate the tire swing for the next hour or so, until they were so sick of spinning that they left.

"You never know, Arthur," Michelle pointed out, shrugging from her perch, "he could act differently than you'd expect."

Arthur just snorted. "Yeah, right, and he's going to bring out a cake and balloons and we'll have a party!"

There was the creak of the screen door, so Arthur looked over, and what he saw made him stop in shock. There was Hong, hanging onto Belle's hand and following her out. Also, he was not wearing the same blank navy t-shirt and jean shorts he had been wearing before; no, he was wearing _Arthur's_ favorite Sonic the Hedgehog shirt and his father's plaid boxers, held up with one of Arthur's belts.

Francis began to laugh rather loudly, and Arthur couldn't help but notice both Michelle and Belle were tittering along. He felt heat begin to build up in his brain suddenly. How dare Hong wear his clothes! How dare he embarass him in front of his friends! How dare he even exist, in his extreme stupidity!

Arthur rushed towards the door, straight for Hong. "Go back inside! Go back inside!"

His shouting and physical confrontation startled Hong badly, and the younger child promptly fell backwards, quickly flipping over like a dog to scramble through the doorway into the house. Arthur didn't follow him in, just yelling after him, "Get out of my clothes, and take my dad's underwear off, you little maggot!"

His friends were in stitches when he turned around, and he glared at Belle. It took several moments for her to get serious enough to even respond. "What?" she asked, whole tone a barely held back laugh.

"That's not funny, putting him up to something like that!" He had an almost reluctant anger, sounding as though he'd much rather not be angry at all, now that the object of his anger was gone. Belle just looked back at him, eyes wide and serious. "I didn't tell him to do that, honest. I just asked him if he wanted to come out, and he said he had to get changed first! I had no idea he was going to wear that..."

Arthur was quiet a moment, then stalked back over to his spot next to Michelle's tree. "He's such a weirdo!" he fumed, throwing himself down crossly. Francis shrugged, a small smirk on his face. "He's definitely unique, not unlike his older brother. You used to dress in that bunny suit all the time, remember?"

Flushing, Arthur gave him a venomous look. "It is _not_ the same thing, I was only four! Stop bringing that up, darnit!"

Michelle nudged him with her foot, giving him a meaningful look. "You should probably go in and apologize before your mom notices. Y'know, so you don't get into trouble again."

"No way I'm apologizing to him! He's the one who started it all!" Arthur pushed off from the ground, striding towards the garage. "Hey, you guys want to go ride bikes or what?"

Belle immediately ran to where the rest of them had dropped their bikes in the yard, and Frances followed suit, throwing his books in his bag. Michelle sighed, but she got out of her tree and loped towards her bike as well. Arthur ignored her shaking her head, and he definitely ignored Hong's face in the window as he rode by, those blank, solemn eyes following him until he got out of sight.

He wasn't guilty.

/AN/ I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I am sorry that it took longer to write than I expected. I have been fairly busy with life, cause, you know, I have one. Or at least I've been working on one.


	4. Chapter 4

Here's the next chapter. Y'gonna get to see more characters in this one! Enjoy!

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

Arthur hated this place.

It wasn't so much that it was a bad place, or that the tinkly music that always played was annoying. No, it was because it was very boring. There were pamphlets he had read several times in plastic holders on the tables, and some children's books and old people magazines as well. The walls were a neutral beige, bordered by drawings of green and deeper beige ribbons.

Alfred had come here fairly often, always leaving with a lollypop and a knowing smile on his face. Arthur never got a lolly, and he never understood quite what it was that Alfred and Dr. Heinkel talked about. Now, he wondered if the same thing would happen with Hong, or if he would react badly to the doctor.

Arthur had never liked Dr. Heinkel, almost as much as he disliked the place. She always seemed to examine people closely with her eyes, like she could take in their personalities and flaws and all of that. Also, she always wore pantsuits, with a turtleneck whenever it was cold enough to be able to. He hated how she matched colors, all of it always being just about as exciting as the beige walls in tone. Hong wasn't likely to take interest in her, even if she rivalled him in staring.

Now, he waited here and reread the pamphlet on nighttime terrors in children, finding that it still warned the reader that anything from traumatic events to an allergy could cause nighttime terrors. Inside the office, Hong was probably finding Dr. Heinkel just about as entertaining, though of course, Arthur couldn't say with absolute certainty what was going on.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, and finally, _finally_, Arthur's mom and Hong came out, the former still talking with the doctor through the open door, and the latter staring off at the bordering. "Thank you so much for making time for us so early- you said it was Wednesday, right? Oh, you're really wonderful with kids, I know you'll get through to him."

Dr. Heinkel's voice floated out past the door. "Yes, I don't think Hong will be hard to work with. We should be able to break right through to those emotions, and from there the therapy should become fairly simple."

Arthur didn't like Dr. Heinkel, but he feared being treated by her far more. He didn't want anything about him to be 'broken through' for any purpose. Hong, however, did not look concerned. Knowing him, he had probably presented a very taciturn front.

"Thank you again, doctor. Arthur, honey, put down that pamphlet, it's time to go." Arthur's mom stopped being so embarassingly and publicly thankful, turning to Arthur and trying to grab Hong's ever resistant hand. Arthur stood, walking over to his mom and avoiding any eye contact with the doctor. He didn't want to risk her seeing something wrong with him and putting him in some program or therapy.

His mother made profuse goodbyes as they left, and Arthur made sure not to look at the other patients in the room. Pretty soon, thank goodness, they were out of there, and heading for the car. Arthur got in the shotgun seat, while Hong got the whole back of the van to himself.

"Buckle yourself, Hong, or I will put you in timeout when we get home." Fortunately, Hong did as he was told, and Arthur stared ahead rather boredly. He hated these visits.

* * *

><p>Arthur's dad shovelled some peas onto Arthur's plate, mentioning something about him not getting enough vegetables. However, Arthur's mother was the one who was commanding his attention, as, completely unbidden, she related the details of Hong's visit to Arthur's father.<p>

"She said he had Reactive Attachment Disorder, and that it's very rare. It basically means he doesn't know how to _attach_ to proper family figures!" Arthur's mom had that annoyingly emphatic look on her face, that she often got when she thought something was a really big deal. Arthur couldn't see why this was that important, as he lifted some soppy lasagna into his mouth. Frankly, he found the meal more interesting, and that was saying a lot.

A small slurping noise caught his attention as he saw Hong once again removing anything remotely liquid from his food, trying to suck up the sauce like a vacuum cleaner. His mom was so excited she didn't notice.

"She says that all it will take is therapy and strict parenting to take care of him. Otherwise, he could get into a lot of trouble. He could become a juvenile delinquent, then a criminal! We have to stop it at the root!" Arthur's mom was getting more and more excited as she spoke, gesturing to Arthur's father as if to try and get the message across.

His father just nodded, calm as ever, occasionally making a sound of agreement. As he lifted another spoonful of peas to his mouth, he glanced over towards Hong, and Arthur was sure there was a flash of uncertaintly in those green eyes of his. But it was gone in only a moment, and he continued eating and nodding along.

Arthur vaguely wondered if anything could get through to Hong, who was now staring at the ceiling fan as it went round and round. It was warm enough for that, but apparently not warm enough for Arthur's mom to turn on the air conditioning. She always liked to wait as long as she could, to save money.

"He'll be a normal part of this family before you know it, dear." It looked as though Arthur's mom had finished her little speech on Hong and his therapy, sitting back with a contented and happy look on her face. Arthur just shovelled some more peas into his mouth, not really so happy about the possibility of Hong becoming a more permanent part of the family. In fact, he had been expecting that the almost-dour faced child would go home soon, but apparently that wasn't an option.

He'd been here for two weeks, and already Arthur was quite sick of him. He refused to recall that he'd gotten sick of Alfred too shortly before the little kid left, and instead only remembered how much fun the kid had been at times. Maybe something would happen, like Hong's family would suddenly become good and come for him. Arthur didn't dare ask if Hong's family would be in such condition to do so, because his mother didn't like him to know that sort of stuff. She always explained that the foster children's families were 'hurting.'

Something very light landed on top of Arthur's head, and he reached up to brush it off, thinking it must be a large fly. However, his hand was greeted with several small objects, all round and a little squishy. Once again, anger shot up its familiar pathways in his brain, and he flung the peas off of his head. "Hong! Don't throw food at me, you idiot!"

"Temper, Arthur!" His mom's excitement seemed to come alive once again, and she frowned severely at him. "You do not call names!"

Then she turned to Hong. "Honey, we don't throw food at each other. Apologize."

Hong, however, promptly stood up and left the table without a word. Arthur's mom was left gaping for a moment, before calling after him, "Hong! Come back here! You can't leave the table without permission! Hong!"

But he was gone, disappeared up to his room. Arthur fumed, stabbing viciously at his remaining peas. He was going to get Hong out of here, if he had to chase down the boy's family members and beg them to take him back. Or else, he would just make life miserable for Hong. That would do it, that nasty little brat.

/AN/ Sorry it took so long, college stuff has been crazy! And I haven't even started for gosh sakes! Ah well, that's just how life is sometimes, I suppose. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Tell me if there are any ways I can improve!


	5. Chapter 5

Psychology strikes! Just so you know, I have nothing against psychology- it's just that some theories and practices are wrong and sometimes harmful. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

I don't own Hetalia! end/AN/

Arthur was rather annoyed, to be honest.

He hated when his mom had him stay over with Mrs. Albers, the older lady across the street. Mrs. Albers' house was like a doily museum, all surfaces covered in lace and frills. She also had a haunting number of angel statues, in pretty much every room, and absolutely every stick of furniture was an antique, as well as various other items. The smell was also something uniquely old lady, like something that was only just barely alive. In short, it was the anti-child-friendly home.

However, his mother was good friends with Mrs. Albers, for some reason or another, and so when no one else was available, he would make her house his temporary residence. Now, he was sitting at the table as she made popcorn, which was nasty kettle corn, not the good stuff that came in a bag.

"When I was a little girl," Mrs. Albers started, over the sound of the kettle corn shaking in the pot, "we didn't have school buses to take us in to school. No, we had to walk, all the way from our house to the elementary school, my brothers and I. And then, when we got older, the high school was even farther away!"

"Okay. That's really interesting." Arthur couldn't have meant those words any less. But however he said it, he noticed it didn't seem to make a difference to Mrs. Albers, who just smiled and continued on with her story.

"That was until my brother got a car. He took me in to school on my first day in my sophomore year, and I can tell you I felt so special... He got drafted not too long after. Fought in the Korean War, he did." The popcorn had begun to pop, hitting the lid of the pot and sounding like some sort of newfangled instrument. Arthur could smell the kettle corn in the air, and he wrinkled his nose. Yuck.

"He was never the same afterwards," Mrs. Albers sighed, barely audible over the sound of the kettle corn popping. Arthur wondered if, when he got home, Hong would be different. Almost anything would be an improvement, he was sure. As Mrs. Albers poured the hot, white kernels into a glass bowl, Arthur considered what Hong could be like, if he had manners. He could be a decent little brother, if not someone pleasant to be around.

"So, are you doing well in school?" Mrs. Albers set the bowl down in front of him, smiling at him in full expectance of an answer. Arthur began to eat the kettle corn, not because he wanted to, of course, but because he was not allowed to be rude to old ladies. "I'm doing good."

"That's wonderful to hear. Is Hong adjusting to his new home?" The thing about Mrs. Albers was that his mom tended to talk to her. So she knew about Hong, and she knew why he was here. It was as though she were trying to gauge to trustworthiness, or his perceptiveness, by asking things she already knew the answer to.

"Yeah, he's okay. He's going to Dr. Heinkel today, so she's going to take care of him." That should be good enough. Arthur didn't want to add his beliefs on the matter, because Mrs. Albers was sure to tell his mother if he said anything unusual.

His mother hated disobedience, and defiance. Not that he wasn't defiant on occasion; on the contrary, he had just told his mom he didn't want to go to Mrs. Albers' house today, and had vocally expressed that feeling for at least five minutes.

"That's very nice. Are he and you getting along?" That was a loaded question if Arthur had ever heard one. His mother was surely aware that he hated Hong, hated sharing with him, hated having to live with him. Mrs. Albers was surely looking for him to trip up and admit it, or else blatantly lie. He had to use a careful, neutral answer.

"He's about as nice as my friend, Francis." Francis was his friend, but there were times he hated that guy He thought he was so cool cause he was two years older than Arthur, and he acted so weird. He'd even tried to kiss Arthur on the cheek once, an attempt that was met with a fist. Arthur felt he'd been very clever in his answer, because Mrs. Albers didn't know his relationship with Francis.

"Ah, and how do you get along with Francis?" Mrs. Albers' answer made Arthur freeze, and he stared at her blankly for a moment. He hadn't expected her to get around the unclear answer, and he didn't know what to do now. Lying was an absolute no; stretching the truth, maybe, but if he lied, his mom might hear about it and get mad.

"Oh, we're okay. He lives up the street from me." It wasn't really lying, he reasoned. He didn't always hate Francis, after all; they were friends. He wouldn't admit to liking the girls better, though. He put a fist full of kettle corn into his mouth, crunching it loudly with his teeth.

Mrs. Albers seemed satisfied enough, also eating some of the kettle corn, though far less and less loudly. Arthur felt relieved; the questioning was over. Now he would get to put together puzzles for the remainder of the time, uninterrupted.

[line here]

After receiving a call from Arthur's mom, Mrs. Albers told Arthur he could go home. He smiled, said thank you for the wonderful time, and dashed out the door with his backpack in tow. His feet pounded the pavement as he sped across the street and up the driveway, stopping only to slam open the door and enter.

Hong looked at him with wide eyes, looking almost startled by the sudden noise. "That's loud," he pointed out quietly, eyes seeming to search Arthur's body while all the while not meeting his eyes.

"I can be loud if I want to, it's my house!" Arthur snapped back, throwing his backpack by the door. Hong just shook his head, and started to step towards Arthur, when suddenly Arthur's mom showed up, looking a little worn out.

"Oh, Arthur, you have no idea how trying my day has been. I was going to wait to tell you and your father at dinner, but I guess the earlier you know the better," Arthur's mom said, brushing his ever messy hair away from his forehead. Arthur could only guess at the news; was Hong finally going back to his own home? Was Alfred coming back? Were his friends moving away?

"Hong's going to be homeschooled now. It's part of a new program, to deal with his attachment disorder. I'll explain it all at dinner, but I just wanted you to know that just because I will be spending a lot of time with him doesn't mean I'm going to forget you, alright? I love you." And she kissed him on the cheek, pulling him in for a hug. Arthur wrapped his arms around her, feeling disappointment surge through him.

Hong was going to be getting all of his mother's time now! Usually, he felt annoyed when she intervened in his life, but now that was going to be taken away from him, and he suddenly felt possessive. He directed a glare at Hong over his mother's shoulder, but the Asian didn't notice, instead wandering over to start pulling the plugs out of the TV.

"I love you too Mom." This hug was beginning to last a little long for Arthur's comfort, and he very slightly began to let go, hoping his mom would get the hint. She seemed to, letting him go with a sigh.

"When your father gets home, I'll explain it all, at dinner," she repeated, smoothing down his hair one time with her hand. Then she turned back towards the kitchen, where, according to the scent in the air, she had probably left dinner cooking in a crock pot.

Hong was staring at him from around the TV when he looked over, though his eyes immediately switched to staring somewhere near his shoulder once Arthur looked directly at him.

"What did you do now? You must've done something horrible to make Mom homeschool you." Arthur's bitter query was met with silence, as one of Hong's hands latched onto the TV and he briefly met Arthur's gaze. What Arthur read in those dark eyes, he wasn't sure, but it was over too quickly for him to understand any of what was going on.

"My throat hurts," Hong finally said, his other hand going up to gently stroke the pained area. Arthur just growled, snapping at him, "That has nothing to do with this! Why can't you just talk like a normal person?"

Hong just began to stare at the clock on the wall, as though he could tell time on a painted decorative piece. Arthur felt that anger burning inside him. It wasn't fair! Hong did everything wrong, he was a weirdo, he was a brat, and now he was getting Arthur's mom to pay more attention to him than she did to Arthur! It was unforgiveable!

"You're a brat, Hong," he growled, before moving into the kitchen, barely glancing back to see that, as expected, there was no visible reaction from Hong.

"Hi Mom, do you need help with dinner?" Good behavior always made his mom happier, which would in turn make her like him more and want to spend time with him. _Hong_ never had good behavior, he would break things, he would hide, he would throw food. At least Arthur had good behavior in spades, especially compared to Hong.

"Of course, honey. Could you please set the table? Your Dad will be home soon." She smiled at him, seeming pleased as she gestured towards the cabinets. Arthur gave a smile back, glad that his mom was paying attention to him, and also glad that his dad would be coming home soon. His dad wasn't home often enough, in Arthur's opinion.

As he put out the creamy white plates on the table, Arthur thought about that look in Hong's eyes. It hadn't been vacant, he had to admit that much, but it wasn't easily decipherable. Had he seen anger? Was Hong annoyed?

Did it really matter? Arthur was going to avoid that kid or else make his life miserable so he'd leave. The fan was spinning above him, giving a delightful breeze. He wished his mom would just turn on the air conditioner already, but it would have to reach a much higher temperature for her to spend that money.

The forks were stainless steel, and Arthur examined his reflection in them for a moment. He looked just like his dad, eyebrows and all. Hong would never look like any of them, so why was he in their family? His mom couldn't expect to keep him permanently, could she?

It wasn't like it was with Michelle; she came from a mixed family, so she looked like her family, really. Half black and half white, so she was the light brown color she was. But Hong's eyes, which Arthur had deemed pretty on the first day, were so different from his family's; at least Alfred had blonde hair like they did.

And Hong's hair was dark brown, pretty much black. Arthur's family was composed of blondes and almost-blondes. It didn't make sense to Arthur to get someone who wouldn't blend in.

"Arthur, are you done in there? Your Father just pulled in," his mother called, and Arthur was pulled out of his thoughts. He hurriedly put down the last napkin. "Yes, Mom!"

His Mom carried out the crock pot to a little stand on the table, where she would dish it out, and in the background Arthur could hear his father coming in through the squeaky screen door.

"Dinner's ready, dear! Hong, you come in here too!" His mom called, and there were two sets of footsteps making their way in. Presently, his father took his seat, smiling benignly at Arthur, while Hong chose the seat that hadn't been set, on the other side of Arthur.

Arthur groaned. "Hong, you've to sit in a seat that's got all the silverware and stuff!"

"Hong, sit next to me," Arthur's mother commanded, and Hong shuffled over to the seat, glancing back at Arthur with what looked like a small grimace. Arthur felt the handle of his fork, eagerly awaiting the meal, even though it was some rice and tomato concoction, with some sort of meat thrown in. He was hungry, even though he had eaten a decent after school snack at Mrs. Albers'. Except for the kettle corn, there was nothing decent about kettle corn.

"Hong is entering a new treatment program," Arthur's mom began, dishing out the food as she talked. Hong didn't look up at the mention of his name, instead staring at the spot his plate was supposed to be. Arthur's mom continued. "I already told Arthur it means he will be homeschooled, but it also means that he will be kept on a tight leash, because part of the program is teaching him to relinquish control. I'll also be taking him once a week for therapy sessions with Dr. Heinkel, like the one we had today."

Hong's dipped further at that, and it made Arthur briefly wonder what went into a therapy session. Probably a lot of talking and digging deep into Hong's past. Arthur would hate having to talk about his feelings to anybody, and for a split second he felt pity for Hong. Then he remembered who he was talking about, and decided that the eight year old deserved it.

"Now, honey, Arthur, I need you both to stay out of what I'm doing with Hong, and not distract him. He needs to learn to bond with a mother-figure. I-" There was a sharp rapping at the door, interrupting Arthur's mom. She looked surprised, turning to Arthur's dad. "Honey, would you go get that please?"

His father went, and Arthur got up and leaned through the archway to see who it was. "Hello, my name's Yao Wang, I'm Hong's older brother. He is here, right? This is where he lives aru?"

It was a short man with a ponytail and a red shirt on, and Arthur thought he looked just like Hong except for the eyebrows. And the reddish nose, like he had a cold. Arthur's father seemed a little hesitant to reply, saying, "How did you find that out?"

"He is here! Please, let me see him, I haven't seen him in so long aru!" Yao seemed rather emotional, and it was almost as though he were begging. Arthur's father glanced back at Arthur's mother, calling, "Hong, come here please."

Hong came, astonishingly enough, looking up at Yao with little reaction. Yao, however, swooped forward, catching up Hong in a hug, making Arthur's father nearly yank him away in surprise. It looked as though Arthur's dad was ready to clock Yao the moment something seemed off.

"Hong, are you okay? Did they treat you alright? I'm so sorry I didn't come sooner; but I'm clean now, so it's okay aru!" Yao held Hong tight, and, Arthur noticed, Hong's hands, though attached to loose arms, were clinging tightly to Yao's shirt.

"My throat hurts," the child replied, head turned and resting against Yao blankly. Yao stroked his head with one arm, barely keeping him up with the other. "I'll get you some cough medicine when we get home aru."

Finally! Hong's family was taking him home! However, something seemed off… didn't a caseworker usually come and take the foster child…?

"You're not taking him home." Arthur's father had blocked the doorway, just as Yao had started to walk towards it. Arthur couldn't see Yao's face, but when he spoke, he sounded surprised, and almost outraged.

"But he's my brother! I'm 18 now, I can take him home!" Arthur's mother had flown out of the dining room at this, immediately trying to ease Hong from Yao's arms. "He's our foster child now; you can't come in and try to take him."

Yao turned away from her, cradling Hong protectively against himself. "No! You can't keep him! He's my brother! My case worker said when I was old enough, I could have him and Mei and Chen!"

"Your case worker probably meant you could petition for guardianship! You cannot march in here and take him away!" Arthur's mom was starting to get excited, voice rising at the would-be abductor in her home.

Arthur just stuck by the archway, watching the scene unfold with awe. Nothing this dramatic had ever happened in his home before. His dad nodded to him, telling Arthur, "Call the police."

"No! You can't do this! He's _my_ brother! You can't just keep him away from me!" It sounded as though Yao had started to cry, arms beginning to shake. Yao wasn't very big, and Hong might not be either, but it didn't look as though Yao were that strong. Holding an eight year old had to be tiring his arms pretty fast.

"Look, the police don't have to get involved; you can just go petition for guardianship, alright? Just stay calm and think it through. You can't take care of him or your other siblings if you're in jail, right?" Arthur's mom sounded breathless, as though this were the most exciting confrontation she'd ever had. And it might very well have been, for all Arthur could remember. No had come to kidnap Alfred, that was for sure.

"I won't go to jail! She said I could have him!" Arthur slipped off into the kitchen, taking out the phone and dialing 911. "911, what is your emergency?"

"A crazy man came into my house and is trying to kidnap my foster brother." That would be the most accurate way to put it, Arthur thought. In the background, he was sure he could hear hysterics going on. "Are you in a safe place?"

"Yeah, I'm safe." Arthur leaned against the counter, listening wonderingly at the noise still coming from the living room. "Where do you live, little boy?"

"I live on 21 North Street, and I'm not a little boy." Arthur was a little miffed that she'd assume that. He'd even been using a slightly deeper voice, so she wouldn't make that mistake! "The police are on the way."

It sounded like a scuffle was going on in the living room, with cries pleading for Arthur's parents to just let them go. Arthur sat down, back against the cabinet. He didn't want to really think about the situation; he might feel bad for Hong, or Yao, or his parents, and he wasn't sure he wanted to get into that. No, he was just going to stay back here until the police came.

He hung up the phone, and he wondered why Hong hadn't made a noise, of protest or even shock, at all of this. If he were Hong, he was sure he would have fought back by now, against one side or the other. Though he personally thought his parents were better than this Yao Wang.

He wanted Hong to go, though. If he weren't so obedient, he wouldn't have called the police at all. He might have even helped Hong pack. Anything to get his room back the way it belonged, with no annoying foster brother to stare at him until he fell asleep.

The police had never come to his home, though. Arthur wondered what they would be like, and if they'd take out their guns. What if they shot someone? Then they would really have a problem on their hands, with blood everywhere and his mom probably screaming. Or maybe the police would use a taser; Yao certainly seemed crazy enough to warrant it.

"Police! Release the boy and put your hands in the air!" The police that parked up the street to catch speeders must have been dispatched. Or else how did they get here so quickly? Arthur peered through the archway once again, seeing Yao clutching Hong tightly while the child just stared blankly over his shoulder. Once again, however, Arthur could see his hands holding tightly.

"No! No, she said I could have him! He's my brother!" Yao repeated, trying to back away from the police. However, the pair marched over and forcibly pulled Hong away, making the eight year old let out a shrill cry, while Yao attempted to break the hold of the policeman now holding him back.

"Hong! No, you can't do this! You can't!" Yao looked like he was breaking down, and Arthur could only stare. He had never seen a grown man cry, nor one with such long hair, but here it was, right before him. The policeman forced his arms behind his back, handcuffing him and telling him of his right to remain silent.

Arthur's mom held Hong close, and Hong didn't try to break her hold, though he didn't grab her back. He just stared, as always, at his older brother, and Arthur wondered if he even understood what was going on, if he even cared.

Yao was incoherent, but it sounded like he was both protesting this development and promising Hong he would be back. The first policeman marched him out roughly, presumably to the squad car. The other followed, after a quick 'good luck' to Arthur's parents.

Arthur wondered if Yao would really be back, or if he'd be locked away a very long time. It seemed likely; kidnapping was a big deal, right?

Hong seemed to quiver under Arthur's mother's hold, and Arthur could only wonder: was he upset, or was it just a bad reaction to a sudden change?

/AN/I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It should get better next chapter though. We might get to see more of Hong's family in the future, such as Taiwan (Mei) and Macau (Chen), the plot's a little fluid right now, so I don't know. I am sorry this took so long; college struck, and I'm just now finishing up most of my updates.


	6. Chapter 6

And here is the next chapter! I have nothing else to say.

Oh! Except that Chen = Macau, and he is Arthur's age. Just so you're aware, I'm using a canon character and not my OC which I made before Macau became canon.

I don't own Hetalia! end/AN/

Glasses. That was the first thing that occurred to Arthur's mind as the boy blocked his path, smiling ever so slightly at him. As he looked beyond that feature, however, he began to take in the whole boy, seeing that not only was he wearing green, he also appeared to be Asian.

"Hi, my name's Chen. You're Arthur, right?" What was it with Asians and being in his life of late? It was not as though there were very many in town! However, he nodded warily. "Yeah, I'm Arthur."

"Alright. You're in Ms. Whelan's class, right? I'm in Mr. Capello's." It seemed Chen had done his homework, researching Arthur as best as could be done in middle school. Arthur was a little unnerved, backing away slightly. He'd never seen this Chen kid before; how did he know this stuff anyway?

"Yeah…" Arthur replied, the unadded portion of that reply being, why are you bothering me? It wasn't that he wasn't friendly. He just… He didn't like not having things on his own terms. And this Chen was certainly not on his own terms, as he followed him through the hallway when Arthur sidestepped around him.

"So, Hong's at your house, right?" Arthur felt a flare of annoyance at the mention of his deranged foster brother. He was trying to keep that mum, darnit! He didn't need everyone knowing that Hong was so bad he needed to be homeschooled!

"What do you want?" Arthur stopped abruptly, turning on Chen. The Asian, however, just adjusted his glasses, smiling slightly once again, as though he thought such a small gesture was going to put him in Arthur's good graces.

"I would like to know how he's doing. I'm his brother, you see, and I only just figured out which class you're in." What, did the whole school know about Hong? It was probably because of that incident with him leaning out of the van. And how come another brother was barging into Arthur's life? He didn't want Hong's life overshadowing his own, so Arthur couldn't help but feel grumpy.

"He's fine." The answer was purposefully terse; he definitely didn't owe this Chen in the slightest. If anything, Chen owed him for leaving him stuck with his brother. This manner didn't seem to make Chen any less polite, however, as he stood almost obliviously in his path.

"Oh. Okay. Has he been sleeping alright? He doesn't usually sleep well without someone in the bed with him." Arthur almost immediately replied that of course Hong had been sleeping, but then it occurred to him: he almost always fell asleep before Hong. And Hong always woke up before him. How much did that kid sleep anyways?

"I guess." But it wasn't his problem, not really. And it wasn't his job to report to Hong's siblings either. So he ignored the disappointed look now painted on Chen's face, as though the Asian had finally figured out he didn't care and wasn't going to tell him much. However, he seemed undeterred, as he attempted to strike up conversation once again.

"So, could I come over and see him? I know I don't know you very well, but he's my brother, and he probably misses his family." Arthur snorted at that one. Hong had definitely seen his family lately, even if it was only one crazy brother with long hair like a girl. Besides, Hong didn't seem to care about anyone but himself; Arthur doubted he even remembered his family when they weren't right in front of him.

"Hong's not supposed to see anyone right now," Arthur replied, shrugging and stepping around Chen. He had better get to class; this slowdown meant he would have to almost jog to make it in time. He heard a small commotion, as well as a, "But wait- can I call- what's your number?"

Hopefully, he'd lost that kid in the rush of students now practically late for their classes; weaving in and out of them to get to a class was difficult enough without trying to find a particular person. And Arthur was sick of everything being about Hong.

That was how it had been this morning, when his mom had given Hong oatmeal for breakfast and made him eat cereal. Though of course, Hong didn't have the good sense to appreciate it. He'd just stared across the table at Arthur's mini-wheaties as though he didn't have food in front of him. Little idiot.

Then his mom had made Hong sit at the table and placed a diagram in front of him that detailed the multiplication tables. It was so easy! It didn't even go past four! But Hong had whined and wriggled in his seat, trying to leave. Arthur had had to pack up his things for school and then leave, without once getting his mother's attention.

Not that he was a baby that needed it, or anything, it was just that… It was his mom, not Hong's! Hong should come second, not first! Better yet, Hong's own mother should be taking care of him. Arthur didn't care that his mom had said that sometimes parents just couldn't take care of their children; he hated the woman that bore Hong, even though he had only the vaguest of images to hate.

When he got home, it had better be a different story, or else he would do something, something bad.

[line here]

Arthur would never admit that he had been elated when Michelle asked to come over to his house. Nor would he admit the uncomfortable twisting in his gut. In any case, he was excited to have someone come over, even if they were going to study.

As they exited the bus and headed down the street, though, Michelle had to start talking, and Arthur was reminded of why he sometimes swore off her friendship, for up to a week at a time. "I haven't seen Hong lately. Is something wrong with him?"

"He's homeschooled now." If he knew a way to change the subject to something she would latch onto, he would, but as it was, he knew she would keep asking and talking until she was satisfied. It was just one of those times, and she responded once again, to Arthur's annoyance.

"Really? Why? Did he do something wrong?" Her brown eyes tried to latch onto his, but he threw his head back and let out a groan. There was no way he was giving her an answer that he had to think about.

"He's just weird, alright?" If she sunk her teeth into this, he was going to have to examine it, and he couldn't explain why, but he did not want to. Michelle was a persistent chick, however, and she asked, "Really? How?"

"Well, he just is… He doesn't listen or anything." Arthur knew it was a vague answer, but it did describe the problem, right? As their shoes crunched on gravel, he ran forward and grabbed his basketball, attempting to throw it into the hoop, and missing by a long shot.

"He seems nice to me, just quiet." Michelle's voice was one that niggled in the back of his mind, and Arthur found in disturbing and uncomfortable. He let his basketball roll into the yard, heaving a great sigh.

"You don't live with him, so you don't know." Arthur sullenly pulled ahead of her, swinging open the screen door with a creak and heading inside. Michelle was quick to follow, but finally she didn't counter, or carry on the conversation in any way.

Inside, he was met with an empty living room, so he headed for the kitchen. "Hey Mom, Michelle and I are going to get a snack- Hong!"

For once, the Asian wasn't doing anything wrong; it was just that Arthur hadn't seen him until he'd practically walked into him. Hong had been sitting on a small stool, hands folded and staring straight ahead- until he saw Arthur. Then he immediately stood up and hugged him tightly. Arthur didn't know what to think.

"H-Hong? What- Why are you hugging me?" Was he angry? Arthur didn't know, and he began to try and peel Hong off of him. The child was having none of it, however, instead clinging as though his life depended on it. Arthur gave a growl, calling, "Mom! Hong's being weird, and he won't get off me!"

He didn't want to look at Michelle. She was probably thinking that Hong liked him and was normal or something, and she would think that this proved her point. But it didn't, because Hong was weird and was just trying to… to…

Well, he didn't know, but surely he was up to no good.

"Hong! I told you to sit there! Get off of Arthur right now!" Arthur's mom was there, and now she was sternly pointing to the stool, while Hong seemed to pretend not to hear her. Hong's lips seemed to be moving, whispering something or other, but Arthur couldn't quite tell what.

"He's just happy to see him," Michelle interjected, obviously trying to get the brat out of trouble. Of course she would take his side. Arthur squirmed, giving Michelle an annoyed look.

"No honey, he's just trying to use him," Arthur's mom explained patiently, as she pried Hong off of Arthur. Michelle blinked, looked at his mom with surprise. "…what?"

"He doesn't understand emotional connections, so, he only acts affectionate to get things. It's because he had a bad childhood and didn't connect with his mother." While she was explaining, Arthur's mom was firmly detaching Hong, pulling him back towards the stool. Hong began to cry, and Arthur knew then that this must be part of the trickery involved in having RAD.

Michelle looked less than convinced, but like Arthur, she was raised right and she didn't talk back to adults. Arthur strolled to the fridge, opening it up to see if there was any string cheese. "It's okay for us to get a snack, right?"

"Yes, of course, Arthur. Don't feed Hong, it's not time for him to eat yet." He had to admit, her statement sounded a little strange. However, she was the mom, and most of the time, he had to admit she knew what she was doing.

As his mom exited the room, Arthur retrieved the string cheese, plopping down on a stool at the island. He opened his and began to peel it, mouth beginning to water as he thought of the delicious cheese on his taste buds. However, he noticed it quite suddenly: Michelle had not sat down yet.

"Michelle, your string cheese is at the stool next to me. Aren't you going to eat?" She settled beside him without a word, taking her cheese in hand and toying with the wrapper. In the background, Hong continued to cry, but he sat obediently where he had been placed.

Arthur wasn't usually the one to start a conversation when it came to his and Michelle's relationship; that was her job, and she knew it. So Arthur felt a little miffed when she said absolutely nothing, instead staring at the cheese in her hand. Silence reigned, other than Hong's sniffling, until finally Michelle broke it.

"He looks hungry." And now Arthur was annoyed once again. Hong didn't look hungry to him; he only looked whiny, like a little brat that couldn't stand being told what to do. Arthur shook his head, groaning just a little bit.

"Michelle… He already ate or something. He's just trying to get you to feed him more." Quite certain of this idea, Arthur stuck a large string of the cheese into his mouth, chewing and hoping that this whole conflict thing was over.

She turned however, locking eyes with the whiny brat, and that's when Arthur knew he'd lost her. Without hesitation, Michelle got up, unwrapping her cheese stick as she went. Arthur was torn between stopping her and facing her wrath, or letting her be and facing his mom's wrath.

"Here, there you go," Michelle told Hong, as she handed him the string cheese. He immediately dug in, barely making eye contact for more than a second before focusing entirely on his snack. Which just figured, of course; he'd only been using her, like Arthur's mom had said.

"My mom's not going to be happy," Arthur told her, swallowing his food before he spoke; only little kids spoke with their mouths full. And it was true; his mom might seem really soft to outsiders, but when people interfered with her plans? She was a force to be reckoned with.

"Well, she doesn't have to know. You're not going to tell her, are you?" Michelle's deep brown eyes met his, and for a moment, it was as though he couldn't look away, couldn't pull out of her gaze, which he tried so hard not to read. However, he did finally break the spell, and he muttered, "Yeah, sure."

What did it really matter if Hong ate when he wasn't supposed to? Not the slightest bit. Besides, if the plan went wrong, maybe his mom would give Hong back. So there really was no reason to interfere with Michelle. Nope, none at all.

"Good. Hey, did you read the chapter on the Romans on the way home? I did, and it looks like acting it out is going to be really fun…" There Michelle went, changing the subject to something more mundane. All the while, Arthur could feel the steady stare of Hong's eyes on the back of his head, even as he replied in the negative.

As soon as he could, he got them to go to the living room. Hong was creeping him out.

[line here]

That night, as Arthur settled into bed, he saw Hong staring across the room at him once again. It didn't unnerve him as much as the first time, of course, but it was still annoying. He gave him a glare, pulling up his blanket to his chin.

"Hong, just stop it already, okay? It's not cute, and I don't want to do anything for you just because you're staring at me!" It didn't make sense to Arthur that Hong would stare at him, other than the fact that the child was clearly insane. Because he wasn't vain enough to think he was a lot to look at, after all.

Turning over would just be subjecting the back of his head to the stare, but eventually he had to do just that, after receiving no reply from the miscreant. "Good night, Hong. Just sleep already."

And sleep eventually came, rescuing him from his horrible foster brother and placing him in a happy place where he was a knight, beating the pants off of Francis and showing off how mighty and powerful he was.

Being so much smarter, he figured out a way to knock Francis off of his horse, without getting hit himself. Michelle and Belle were amazed, chattering to each other about his great strength and wit. Of course, he didn't care about that. No, he had to go kill a dragon to protect the people of his magical kingdom!

Calling upon the fairy forces of the forest, he got them to help him fight the ruthless, fire breathing monstrosity that had been terrorizing the people by eating sheep and spitting out globs of burned wool everywhere!

The fae distracted the monster while he snuck around and drove his sword into the back of its neck, breaking its throat and making it drop dead. His fairy friends converged on him, congratulating him on his prowess in battle and intelligence-

And a cold foot shoved itself into his hip. Arthur shot up in bed, limbs flailing as he tried to get the cold toes off of his skin. What the heck had happened?

One hand found a face, while the other shoved the foot away, and it was then Arthur realised just what had happened.

"Hong!" he growled, throwing off his covers completely to reveal the eight year old huddled against him. Hong tried to grab the blanket and pull it back down, but Arthur was stronger. Eyes shut, the smaller boy tried to pretend he was still sleeping, completely ignoring Arthur now.

"Get out!" Arthur's hands were surprisingly ineffective at pushing Hong out of bed, as the little boy dug into the sheets with his fingers and toes. What a brat, what a stupid, idiot brat! How could Hong have thought he would want him in his bed with him?

"I wanna stay," came the murmur, which was a little surprising, considering how little the child seemed to talk, but Arthur was definitely in no mood to feel grateful for it. Heck, he was never in the mood to be grateful for Hong in any way!

"Mooooom!" Arthur was absolutely fed up with Hong, as he felt the anger pushing its way up past his jaw, nearly enough to come spewing out in hateful words, if Hong did anything more to make him angry. However, what happened next surprised him.

Hong hurled himself out of the bed, landing on his butt on the floor. "I needed to sleep," came the strange announcement, though if Arthur didn't know better, he would have thought that Hong was pleading with him.

Ha! Fat chance he wasn't going to give him up to Mom. And besides, surely Hong had been sleeping in the past weeks already; he'd never shown any signs of tiredness, not that Arthur had noticed.

"Arthur, what's wrong?" His mom was in the doorway, and Hong had frozen, staring straight ahead like a weirdo. Arthur didn't hesitate; he wasn't doing anything wrong by reporting Hong's misbehavior. Besides, he was supposed to tell on him, right?

"Hong was in my bed! While I was sleeping!" He didn't feel any more words were necessary to convey the obvious disgust in such a situation. His mother got a stern look on her face, directed pointedly at Hong.

"Hong… You come over here, now. I told you to sleep in your bed, didn't I?" Hong, however, refused to move, staying his spot as though he were rooted to the floor. His resistance was worth absolutely nothing as Arthur's mom hauled him from his spot, dragging him towards downstairs.

"There are consequences for every action, Hong, and the sooner you learn, the better!" As she disappeared, Hong shot Arthur a look, one Arthur couldn't quite discern, and didn't want to in his anger. The little brat deserved anything he got, even if he got a spanking!

Shuffling around, Arthur got to his morning routine. He couldn't wait for Hong to lose at his therapy program and be kicked out to back home.

Then he could finally have a normal house to live in.

/AN/ Imagine, I actually updated! I've been working on this for forever! Now that I'm almost done with finals, I've been working on my stories. For those of you who read Savage, that chapter is turning out to be very long, and I anticipate it being my longest. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and that people are still reading this story!


	7. Chapter 7

Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I work hard on my stories!

I don't own Hetalia!end/AN/

Arthur awoke to chills, the coldest he had ever felt, he was sure; also, there was a wetness on his head that seemed to just seep into his brain and slow down the processes like goo in a factory. He reached out, trying to find something, someone, and mostly he found his blankets in his weak grip.

"Mhmmom…" he moaned, trying to turn over and get attention from his mom, who may or may not have been in hearing distance. However, he felt hands pushing on the wetness on his head, and he recognized it to be a towel or something.

"You have to sleep," came the murmur, and it came in a voice that Arthur knew was _not_ his mother, but somehow he was comforted. Warm fingers touched his eyelids, and it registered to him that they were trying to close his eyes for him. He didn't put up much of a fight, groaning softly and trying to somehow absorb the warmth into his cold-wracked body.

"Poor baby…" the voice cooed, and he promptly got a kiss in the general area of his ear. For whatever reason, it didn't bother him, and he just lay there, waiting for the voice to further take care of him. When he heard nothing more, he chalked it up to the voice leaving to get something to help him.

His eyelids were heavy, he noticed, even as the chills wracked his body. Maybe he wasn't even awake; this could be a dream, he reasoned, as the darkness began to take over his senses once more…

* * *

><p>When he'd next woken up, he heard his mom's voice, and he clearly saw her face. "Arthur, honey, there you are… I was so worried about you. Open up your mouth and let me put in this thermometer, alright?"<p>

"Oka- ack!" The thermometer was zealously shoved under his tongue, and he tried to roll his face away on instinct. However, his mother caught his chin, and commanded his to close his mouth. He didn't want to upset her, so he obeyed.

"Ohm? Y am I-"

"Arthur, no. Do not talk. Just lay back and wait for it to beep."

At his mother's words, Arthur just gave up, relaxing as best he could with that thing jammed under his tongue. He swore it was starting to make his eyes water. But of course, there was no way that was on purpose, as much as he felt the resentment towards it right now.

It was an agony, waiting for what seemed like ages for it to go off, all the while his mother breathing above him, and staring the thermometer like she awaited some sort of magic results. He also thought her mouth was downturned, which just added to the awkwardness.

Finally, there was a beep, and the thermometer was withdrawn. He let out a sigh of relief as his mother read it.

"100.2 degrees. Arthur, were you playing with sick kids? I told you, if Belle or Michelle or Francis look like they have the flu, you don't play with them!"

"I don't think they're sick…" Arthur mumbled, rubbing at his eyes sleepily. How long had he been out, he wondered? The light streamed into his room in very bright manner, as though it were fighting with all it had to get past the blinds.

"In any case, you'd better stay up here and rest. I'll bring you up a snack around 2:30, alright?" His mother just gave him an almost grim smile, corners of her mouth barely turned up, and eyes serious, as though to say, I can't believe you've missed a whole day of school.

Which, he supposed he had to have, considering how late in the day it was.

"You know, you scared your father and me; you were out for two days before today, Arthur. You have to wash your hands and never share personal items with people." Her face was very serious, like a preacher explaining the greatest flaws of his flock to them.

Arthur's eyes widened. That made three days! Three days with no school… how would he ever catch up? "M-Mom! Did anybody bring my homework here?"

Yes, he was panicking; but it was with good reason. He might have been a good student, but who knew what he could have missed in three whole days?

"Your friend Kiku brought it by. Don't worry, I'll help you catch up, alright? We'll sit together and go over it once you're better." And she took her leave, smiling and telling him to get better soon before she shut the door.

Well… Arthur had to say he felt alright. And so he threw off the comforter and thrust himself upright off the bed.

He nearly fell down.

Who knew a person could feel so dizzy without spinning around? Arthur certainly hadn't suspected he would be. As he clutched the bed for balance, he waited until his world stopped jiggling around him, feeling slightly nauseous throughout it.

As soon as things calmed, he began to try and decide his plan of action. If his mom saw him teetering around, she would send him back to bed and give him a bland sandwich for lunch as retribution. So, he had to be sneaky.

He tiptoed out the door, figuring he could visit the bathroom first, and listen through the vent to figure out what was going on in the living room directly below.

The shiny floor was cold under his toes, and he was quick to tuck them under himself when he sat on the closed toilet and stuck his ear to the vent. The warm air was delightful, breezing gently across the shell of his ear.

More importantly however, the sounds coming from downstairs, though tinny, were not quite familiar.

Some sort of grunting/whining, and his mother's voice correcting, demanding that whoever it was 'hold still and behave' because 'you need your bottle, honey.'

Arthur drew back, incredibly confused. Bottle? What, like a water bottle? She could be telling Hong to behave, but why on earth would he need a bottle?

This called for some investigation; if he crept down to the last few steps near the landing, he could stay hidden behind the wall and check out what was going on. His spy side practically demanded this course of action, and so, without further thought of getting in trouble, he headed down.

The stairs were creaky, but only if you didn't know which ones to avoid. Fortunately, Arthur was a master at this, and was like a ghost slipping down the stairs silently.

As he reached the bottom, he heard particularly loud whine, which he knew undoubtedly to be Hong. Ah, so he must be getting punished again or something… Why on earth did he insist on speaking so little, though?

"Open, _open_, there's a good boy-" As Arthur peeked around the corner, what he saw shocked him. There, in the rocking chair his mother used for him when he was a baby, and for small children now, was his mother, Hong cradled in her arms like a little baby.

And worse yet, she had a _baby bottle_ in her hand, and she was trying to get him to drink from it. Hong's face was red, as he tried to break free; it occurred to Arthur that must have been what he was doing all along.

If he was confused before, now he was especially confused. He ducked back, so that he wasn't seen.

What the heck? Why was his mother trying to bottle feed Hong? The kid was eight years old, didn't she realize that? He was so far from being a baby it wasn't even funny!

"'m not a baby." The voice was wobbly, and Arthur didn't want to admit, but he sounded tearful. However, he was also quiet, like he was afraid to be any louder.

Arthur looked around the corner once again, almost hoping it would be different on this second sight. It wasn't.

"Sweetheart, you've got to eat; listen to Mommy, she loves you."

Hong's eyes spotted Arthur, and their eyes locked. For one moment, for the first time, it seemed his eyes communicated something; Help me.

Arthur quickly broke contact, hiding again. He couldn't help Hong! It was a ridiculous notion; this was just part of the treatment, and Hong was just a brat who deserved it, and he wasn't scared, he was just playing with Arthur…

Arthur had to get out of there, that instant. He hurried back up the steps, barely taking care not to make a sound. His mother didn't notice, or else she would have called up after him.

He threw himself onto his bed, feeling the room spin at the sudden action. What was going on? Why would his mother treat Hong like a baby? Why would Hong look at him that way?

Hong was just an idiot, he had RAD, he was using him; why didn't Arthur feel like that was true, though? He ran his hands through his hair, muttering a dark, "Dangit."

Should he talk to someone about it? He was worried, for the first time, about what was going on with Hong. He didn't like him though, did he? Hong was just annoying, but… he'd looked scared. Arthur couldn't deny it: Hong, the ever emotionless and weird, had flashed him a frightened look.

And now the happenings of days ago came back; he'd had a voice, a person helping him when he first got sick. The thought made him even more troubled: it had been Hong, undoubtedly, so long as it wasn't a hallucination. The weirdo had kissed him in the ear and tried to bring his fever down! Could someone who didn't know how to love do that?

He had to talk to someone; Michelle. Michelle would know what to do, or Francis. They were smart, or at least older, in Francis's case. They would know what to do.

They _had_ to.

/AN/ Shorter chapter than usual, yes, but since I am back in college, I figure better a shorter update than none at all. I hope you enjoyed it, and I look forward to writing more!


	8. Chapter 8

Vell, here is the next chapter! Hopefully, it will keep your attention and help you forget any troubles of your own, da?

I don't own Hetalia!end/AN/

Arthur had tried to ignore Hong, at least until he knew what to do; but it was Saturday now, and even though he was no longer sick, he had to stay in to catch up on homework. That pretty much threw a sack of rocks onto his plan to get help from Michelle or Francis.

The boy had temporarily disappeared from his mother's view, and had curled around his legs like some sort of pet.

Arthur didn't want to kick him or anything, so he let him stay there. Maybe it was okay, because Hong didn't understand, or maybe he did and he wanted Arthur to hide him… Arthur wasn't really sure. But he felt the warmth radiating from Hong into his legs a strange feeling, almost… welcome.

The fractions loomed in front of him, even as his mind refused to concentrate. Really, why did he have to learn to add fractions? It was a big thing, and he doubted he would need it if he wanted to be a detective. Detectives would figure out by watching, not by doing math.

Sherlock Holmes would have figured out what was going on with Hong and his mom by now; he would know who to talk to, how to change things to better. Arthur wished he was as smart as the famous detective; maybe he would be, by a certain age.

"Marthur?" Hong gave a small murmur, shifting around.

"Yeah?" Arthur still didn't know how to react to Hong. He seemed to like hiding, and that must be why he was under his chair and wrapped around his legs. But why here? Maybe he would reveal that in a moment.

"'m hungry."

Sighing, Arthur absently tried to lift his foot to tuck it under himself, giving up partway through. "It's not time to eat."

"I want Yao."

It was the first time Hong had claimed to want anybody, and so Arthur was dubious. Was he trying to guilt-trip him into getting him food? Or did he really miss the weird man with the ponytail? "Yeah, okay. Maybe you'll see him again."

There was shuffling, but no reply.

Arthur focused on his problem, add ⅘ to ⅞; it was a particularly tough one, and he didn't give Hong much more thought for the next couple of minutes.

Then the stairs creaked, as feet made their way up them. "Hong? Hong, you come out right now!"

There was a mad scramble, as Hong threw himself underneath Arthur's desk as far as he could go.

Arthur didn't know what to do, leaping to his feet and looking around. Did he just let her take him, or did he step in? You didn't talk back to your parents, he knew; but was this a special circumstance? Why weren't things easier to figure out?

His mom opened his door rather softly, stepping in with her clog-clad feet. "Hong? Hong, are you in here?"

Hong'd have to be crazy to answer, Arthur thought. "He's not here!"

Whoa, wait one minute; why did he say that? Geez, he had just lied to his mother! Not that he'd never done it before, but it was usually in smaller matters…

"Oh, thank you honey." His mother disappeared, taking his word for it.

Arthur dropped back into his chair, brain blank for a moment. Then the thoughts came flooding: what was he supposed to do now? What if he got in huge trouble? He didn't want to get in major trouble! And it was all over Hong!

But Hong needed him, didn't he? Not a lot of people needed _him_… What did he do now?

Hong's arms suddenly wrapped tightly around his leg, as though he were trying to communicate through body contact: _Don't let her find me._

"We'll, um, I guess we can hide you in my closet…?" It was poor planning, and Arthur wasn't sure when he had become so impulsive and stupid, stupid, stupid…

"We can drive away." Hong said this tentatively, eyes trying to lock with Arthur's and make him agree.

Arthur squawked, however. "I can't _drive_, I'm twelve years old! Hong, maybe we should just apologize to Mom and say you didn't hear her-"

"No, cause I'm not fun and snappy!" Hong's thick eyebrows didn't even move, face as blank as ever, though his eyes seemed to have a torrent of emotion hidden behind them, as shiny as they were with- no, those weren't tears, were they?

"What on earth are you talking about? It's not like she'll get that mad, and she can't spank you anyway, can she?" Arthur awkwardly trying to smooth out Hong's hair and keep him calm. If he began bawling or something, not that he seemed likely to do that, they would both get in trouble. Maybe he should plant him in the laundry room and claim he fell asleep there…

"I have to be fun and snappy! Kids have to come right when called and be fun! I'm not fun, Arthur!" Three sentences were a lot for Hong, it seemed, as he forced them out, but he also seemed desperate that Arthur would understand what he was talking about.

Arthur shrugged, a little unsurely. What did being fun have to do with anything? "I'm sure you could be fun if you tried; maybe you could learn to juggle or something."

Hong's grip just tightened around Arthur's leg, as though he were trying even harder to impart his feelings. "I'm not fun, Arthur."

Well, at least he knew himself; beyond that, Arthur didn't what to make of the situation.

However, the creak of the hallway as his mother made her way back sent a jolt of energy through him, and he seized Hong, practically throwing him into his closet, on top of some boys' magazines and old clothes that didn't fit him anymore. "Stay there!"

He slammed the door shut without an answer, hoping that Hong wasn't afraid of the dark, and knowing that he was only making things worse, really… He couldn't hide Hong forever, could he?

There was a sliding sound against the door, and he was sure Hong was leaning on it; however, he didn't get much more time to dwell on it, as his mother burst into his room. "Arthur, are you quite sure that you haven't seen Hong?"

"Yeah," he replied, shoving his hands into his pockets and trying to jam his fingers all the way through the seams. What would happen if his mother found out? What if she made him go to Dr. Heinkel and treated him like a baby too, and made him sit for hours and not have snacks when he wanted and… and… It would be horrible. He had to keep her from knowing.

"If you're sure, honey…" She drew it out, like she was giving him one chance to confess and have it all over with and who was he kidding, he couldn't hide this forever, he should say something, try and smooth it out and take his lumps and-

"Yeah, I'm sure Mom." There he went again, letting his mouth take control! What was he going to do? She would kill him!

"Alright. I'll call the neighbors, see if they've seen him. I hope he's not lost; that poor boy would have no idea what to do." And with that, his mother left once again, none the wiser, it seemed.

The _neighbors_ were getting involved! Why had Arthur let himself get into this slippery hole? There was no way he would get out punishment free now!

Scratching on the door caught his attention, and Arthur groaned, running over and opening the closet door. "Listen, Hong, you can't make a sound, you understand? Not a single one! Because if we get caught, you know how much trouble we're going to be in?"

Hong, however, simply stared at him, as though it didn't particularly matter if they got caught or not, now that his mother was not visibly or audibly present. "I wanna go home."

"Okay, where's your home?" It was a wild idea: why didn't he just take Hong back where he belonged? He was sure he got get him seated in the basket on his bike, since it was big enough for a stack of newspapers.

"I dunno."

It was less than encouraging; it was the absolute downfall of that plan. Arthur groaned once again, shaking his head. "Well, I don't know anywhere else to put you!"

He wished he'd gotten in contact with that Chen kid now. Then maybe he could shuffle Hong off on him, and leave himself to his sweet freedom. His mother would never even have to know… alright, maybe she'd figure it out eventually, but maybe Chen would be better at hiding Hong….

In any case, that was neither here nor there. He had to do something, and fast.

"I like Michelle."

Arthur gave Hong a look like he was the dumbest animal he'd ever met. "Hong, we can't go to Michelle's house; she's not supposed to have people over when her parents aren't home!"

Though, one moment here… Michelle was the type who would cry for broken bird eggs. She would want to hide Hong, wouldn't she? A plan swamped Arthur's mind, and he tried to think of ways to convince Michelle to help and how to get Hong out of the house unnoticed all at once.

"Come on, let's go. We better hurry while Mom's on the phone." Please, please let her be on the phone… Arthur wouldn't know what to do if she wasn't.

To disguise his footsteps, he coaxed Hong onto his back, cringing for the extra weight; however, the child was surprisingly light. He carefully walked down the stairs, shadow appearing rather like a hunch back's, or some other poor misshapen person.

His mother was on the phone, and despite an episode with Hong's knees digging rather tightly into his ribs, he made through the living room and out the door.

The breeze struck them full in the face, and Hong was quick to scramble down.

Now for the hard part; enlisting help.

/AN/ I had to take an unexpected vacation… but I am glad to be home! And so, naturally, I am writing as much as I can until tomorrow, when I have to start really hitting the books. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

I'm just glad to update this story again; it's been crazy, and to honest, Savage has the coveted 'Favorite Story to Write' status at this point. But never fear, RADish with always have a special place in my heart!

I don't own Hetalia!end/AN/

Arthur stood outside Michelle's front door, trying to shield Hong from the view of the neighbors. He'd already pressed the doorbell, and there was no time, none at all, to backtrack.

But what would Michelle say? She liked Hong, he was sure, but what if her parents were home? What if she was too afraid of being punished to hide Hong?

He didn't have any more time to ponder, as the door swung open.

"Oh, hey Arthur. What's Hong doing with you?" Michelle's face spoke of a quiet afternoon, probably spent watching something fun on television.

Arthur, not caught up in pleasant niceties, shoved Hong past her and slipped into her house. "Chelle, I'm in trouble. We both are," he explained, gesturing to Hong.

Michelle shut the door, apparently not at all bothered by the idea she'd get in trouble too. "Well, what kind of trouble? Did you guys steal something?"

"You could say that: I stole Hong." Arthur felt that was a good description of what had happened. "But you would have too, if you'd seen it! Michelle, Mom was bottle feeding him, and she makes him sit for long times, and it's just so weird…" He couldn't come up with more explanation.

"Okay, okay… why are you here, if you stole him?" Michelle didn't seem to connect herself in with this.

Hong suddenly clutched Arthur's hand, muttering, "I need snacks. Lots of snacks. My tummy is so empty…"

Arthur sighed, as Michelle led them back to the pantry. "You see, I can't hide him in my room; so I need you to hide him."

Michelle's eyebrows raised, as she handed Hong a box of graham crackers. "Hide him? Where do you think I could hide him?"

That was a good sign; she wasn't saying she wouldn't hide him. Arthur shrugged. "I don't know… what about your garage? I mean, it's warm out, and your dad doesn't use the garage for his car. Maybe if you make him a little nest like a bird…?"

Hong tore at the packaging of the graham crackers with his teeth. Michelle was quick to take it from him and snip it open with a scissors. "Arthur, he's a little kid; he won't want to stay in the garage."

"If you give him something to play with… he'll probably like anything he can take apart or stare at. Like picture books!" Arthur was sure that Michelle had some lying around, and they would be perfect.

Michelle sighed, apparently already defeated. Arthur wasn't sure how he'd gotten her on his side so easily. "Well… I guess he can go in the garage, then. For now. Come on honey, let's get some blankets, and we'll set you up, all right?"

Hong took the hand Michelle offered, ravenously chowing down on the graham cracker in his other hand. He would like it, of course; it was little kid food.

"I'm going to head back. My mom will miss me. And, Chelle? Thanks." Arthur had a weird swelling feeling in his chest; he and Michelle were working together to protect Hong. He was like a hero, or something.

"All right. Don't worry, I'll keep him hidden!" Michelle promised, heaving Hong up in her arms like a baby. The boy did nothing to protest the treatment, despite being eight. He was tiny enough to pass for four or five, though.

Arthur nodded, and headed back out the door.

He had only one course of action in mind: he had to find that Chen kid again, and get him to take Hong back. He'd wanted to see him, so there was no doubt in Arthur's mind that this plan would work.

His mom was walking around the yard and calling for Hong as he walked back, so he had to shake his head when she asked if he'd seen him around. Then he'd slipped inside and ran to the phone book. How many Asian families could there be in his town? If the name looked Asian, he should call it.

But when he was presented with an abundance of Huangs, Songs and Fujimotos, Arthur was intimidated. Should he call every last one? Or was it better to wait until tomorrow, when he would be in school again? No, he wouldn't; it was too much, and it would run up the phone bill and he would get in trouble. He wasn't even supposed to get on the phone without permission.

He didn't know Chen or Hong's last name. He decided on slipping it in during dinner and getting an answer, but dinner never came.

Instead, the police came. And Arthur's mother cried and described Hong thoroughly, and the man nodded, scribbling things down on a notepad. His bushy mustache twitched every so often, as though this were normal enough but unsettling.

Arthur could only hunker down in his room and work on homework; he had no phone in his room. He would have to track down Chen tomorrow, or sneak out before school to meet Michelle at her house. How hard could Chen be to find, though? He was tall, he had glasses, and he was Asian; not a lot of students at his school fit the profile.

He would find him tomorrow; he had to.

/AN/ I know, short chapter, but I've been trying to get back into swing with this story. I hope you enjoy the update! And, yes, Michelle is not easily frazzled.


	10. Chapter 10

I don't own Hetalia! end/AN/

Arthur had been fortunate to go to school. He'd been afraid his mother would make him stay home, with the way she had sat up all night staring at the phone. She'd been hugging him a lot, and stroking his hair.

It was unsettling, and he hadn't been able to get out of the house without his mom watching him make his way up to the bus. All the parents on the street were watching their kids go to the bus.

He sat with Michelle, quickly hunching conspiratorially and whispering, "How's Hong doing?"

Michelle kept a calm façade, saying, "He's doing all right. I checked on him this morning, and made sure he had plenty of graham crackers and juice. He was sleeping."

Good, good. Arthur imparted the next part of his plan. "I'm going to find his older brother, Chen, and we're going to get Hong to him. Then he'll keep him safe."

"Okay. Are you sure Chen can keep him?" Michelle looked like she thought Arthur might not have thought this through.

Arthur nodded. Of course. Why on earth wouldn't his brother keep him? Even if it was difficult, Arthur was sure the boy would find a way. He'd been so desperate to see him before; he would probably do anything to help Hong.

He left Michelle behind as they slipped to their classes; but first he stopped by the principal's office. He had to find out which class Chen was in.

He'd already planned this out. He'd packed an extra lunch, on the pretense of bringing it to Chen.

Arthur smiled at the lady at the desk, and said, "Um, I'm supposed to deliver this lunch to Chen."

"Chen who?" she asked, looking up nicely. Her voice was like smooth butter.

"Um, I forget. Can you look him up, so I know which classroom to go to?" Arthur was banking on there being only one Chen.

And there was, as the nice lady informed him. "Chen Wang, in classroom 2-B. Now, I'm going to give you note so you don't get into trouble, all right? We don't usually let kids roam the halls in between classes, but I'm going to let you, okay?"

She scribbled out a note, and gave it to Arthur. Arthur thanked her profusely, and disappeared down the hallway.

Now… 2-B… 2-B… Ah. Hardly twenty feet away. Good.

Arthur opened the door, and said in as important a voice as he could, "Chen Wang to the principal's office."

"What? But I haven't done anything," Chen protested, looking shocked as he knocked a group of pencils out of alignment.

The teacher gestured for him to leave.

He went, face downcast. He'd probably never been to the principal's office; he seemed like a goody-goody…

As soon as the door closed, Arthur pulled Chen to the side, whispering, "This is really important, okay? You have to listen to me."

"You're Hong's foster brother, aren't you? Is something wrong with him? Did something happen?" Chen was all ears, eyes examining Arthur's face for anything that would give away the truth.

Arthur nodded. "My mom has been treating him like, like a sort of baby… it's really freaky, and he doesn't like it. She makes him drink from a bottle, and sit on her lap, and sit on a stool for a long time without moving… It's really bad. I need your help."

Chen nodded, saying, "Anything. Anything at all."

"You need to take Hong, and keep him with you."

Chen looked startled. "Where would I put him?"

Arthur was a little surprised. "In your room, of course. Look, I can't keep him in Michelle's garage forever; it's eventually going to get cold. Maybe you can take him back to your real parents or something…"

At that, Chen's face darkened. "We can't go back to our parents. His dad was never there, and my dad is in Canada. Our mom… she's been locked up. For child maltreatment. We can't go back; there's nowhere to go back to."

This boggled Arthur. How could there not be somewhere for them to go back to? Suddenly, the idea of his whole life being ripped out from under him struck him, and he felt strangely vulnerable. He wanted to hug Chen, make him feel better, but they were both boys and that was awkward. "Well, you're at a foster home, right?"

"Yeah." Chen nodded.

"You can take him back there, right?" This had to be the case. Arthur prayed at that moment that Chen could find a way to keep his brother with him.

Chen hesitated, then nodded, sighing. "I'll find somewhere to put him. If I have to keep him under the bed, I'll keep him there."

Arthur was relieved. "All right. Where do you want to meet?"

"The park, the one with the tire swing. It's not too far from my house. Tonight." Chen seemed to have considered it already, before Arthur could even ask.

"Okay. I'll meet you there with Hong," Arthur promised. Then he shoved the paper sack lunch into Chen's hands. "For luck."

"Okay… I guess so. See you then." Chen took the lunch, and disappeared back into his classroom.

Arthur headed down the hallway, to his classroom. He was fortunate to have the note from the lady at the desk. He presented that to the teacher, and slipped into the classroom.

He met Michelle's eyes, and gave her the thumbs up.

Hours later, however, they were greeted with the empty nest left behind by Hong, covered with cracker crumbs and a juice stain.

/AN/ Yes, cliffhanger. I hope someone's still interested in this story; I've been on a writing mania, and I wanted to update this story. It's still one of my favorites, because I love psychology and there's just so much of it to think about in this story.

For those of you who read Savage, research is still coming slowly with the sequel. I'm having a hard time figuring out how to start.


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